Harlow Shapley (November 2, 1885 - October 20, 1972), was a United States|US astronomer, political activist, participant in the The Great Debate|Shaple.
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Madam starmaker
When it comes to prestige in US education, few names carry more weight than Harvard University.
Founded in 1636 in Cambridge, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, as New College, Harvard is the US’s oldest institution of higher education.
People today might think of Harvard for its legal and business studies but from its early days it was known as a centre of scientific research.
Less known is the role that women played at Harvard in developing astronomy as a science. Prominent among these starry women was Henrietta Swan Leavitt, born on 4 July 1868 in Lancaster, Massachusetts.
In 1888 Leavitt entered the Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women, which later became Radcliffe College, an offshoot of male-only Harvard. Her studies ranged from classical Greek, fine arts and philosophy, to analytical geometry and differential calculus.